Jerry Stackhouse has cooked up some good bench play since arriving in January

Let’s get one thing clear: NBA players have egos.  If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have made it as far as they have.  From pee-wee league to high school to college, these guys are typically the best players on their teams.  And if they aren’t they best, they usually think they are, because that sort of confidence is what breeds success at higher levels.  Often, what’s driving them to work so hard is their belief that they are the best.  Once they get that taste, they don’t want to lose it.  So the first time a coach comes to them and says, “how about coming off the bench?” you can understand that it often rubs them the wrong way.  Unless it’s done right.

Lucky for the Bucks, Don Nelson did the heavy lifting for them a few years ago with Jerry Stackhouse.

“When I first did it in Dallas, I knew I could still start,” said Stackhouse.  “I had a coach (Nelson) that approached me in the right way.  I think it’s all about, kind of massaging.  You know, everybody’s got an ego in this league and he massaged mine a little bit.”

Accepting the sixth man role may sound like a small thing to do when the other option is earning a reputation as a problem, but it isn’t always as easy as it sounds.  Look no further than Stackhouse’s one time teammate Allen Iverson. Iverson had an opportunity to be the key to the Grizzlies bench this season.  He could have come off the bench as the featured option, got his shots and been a focal point, albeit for fewer minutes than he was accustomed to.  But Iverson balked at being a bench player.  Perhaps he felt it was beneath a man of his many accomplishments or maybe Memphis just didn’t handle him properly, whatever the reason, Allen Iverson in Memphis lasted just three games.

When he and coach Nelson first talked about it, Stackhouse liked the way it sounded. Read More »